Although the man recently named Canada’s most beloved premier has passed, Peter Lougheed’s legacy remains embedded throughout the province and the capital region.

In Edmonton, Lougheed had a direct hand in the completion of the Shaw Conference Centre, helped make Anthony Henday Drive a reality – he also played a role in supporting the arts in Alberta.

“He was a great guy and I enjoyed working with him,” Former Edmonton mayor Cec Purves said.

Purves has fond memories of his relationship with then-premier Lougheed.

“The deal was made that I could get in touch with him at any time, and he could do the same with me,” Purves said.

That connection played a major role in the completion of the Shaw Conference Centre – the province stepped in when cost overruns left city officials searching for money.

“That was a nice phone call to get from his office,” Purves said. “[They said] we’d like to give you another $20 million dollars for building that building.”

Lougheed also helped reserve the land where the Henday would one day be built.

“[He] had the vision to see that they needed this land for tomorrow,” Mayor Stephen Mandel said. “Maybe it should be called ‘Peter Lougheed Way’.”

In the downtown core, Lougheed and Don Getty, who took on the role of premier afterwards, were both committed to the construction of the pools at the Legislature Grounds – which were seen as a way to connect everyday Albertans to the government.

His legacy goes beyond physical monuments as well; he was a major supporter of the arts in Alberta – along with his wife.

“Jeanne Lougheed was always his inspiration to have a wholistic vision of leadership,” Jean Grand-Maitre, the Artistic Director of the Alberta Ballet said. “I think today there’s not a cultural manifestation of leadership in Alberta.

“That is not a fruit dropping from a tree that the Lougheed government planted.”

Lougheed was a major force behind the Culture Ministry in Alberta – the current head of that ministry, Minister Heather Klimchuk, worked for Lougheed in the 1980s.

Carrying on that ministry is an honour for her.

“Culture encompasses everything we do, it connects all of us and he thought of that many years ago,” Klimchuk said. “That’s the tradition I’m carrying on.”

With files from Sonia Sunger